Wieghorst backs Scotland to get the job done in Moldova
DENMARK assistant manager Morten Wieghorst is confident Scotland can avoid the same calamitous result they slumped to on the last occasion they travelled to Moldova for a World Cup qualifier – thanks to the quality of the pitch at the Zimbru Stadium.
The national team can secure second spot in Group F behind the all-conquering Danes and book a place in the Qatar 2022 play-offs next March if they triumph in Chisinau tomorrow evening.
Steve Clarke’s men go into the penultimate match in their section with confidence high after winning their last four matches against Moldova, Austria, Israel and the Faroe Islands.
However, Clarke is missing playmaker Ryan Christie and striker Lyndon Dykes, who are both suspended, as well as centre half Grant Hanley and winger Ryan Fraser, who are both injured.
Elsewhere, Kieran Tierney, the Arsenal left back, has been sidelined for the past three weeks with an ankle problem and is, despite being passed fit to play, lacking game time.
And neither right wing back Nathan Patterson nor central midfielder Billy Gilmour have started a match for Rangers or Norwich City respectively since the meeting with the Faroes in Torshavn last month.
Scotland’s last visit to the eastern European state back in 2004 didn’t exactly go according to plan either – they were held to a costly 1-1 draw by the football minnows in a Germany 2006 qualifier. Then manager Berti Vogts, whose side’s chances of reaching their first World Cup since ‘France ’98 were effectively over after just three Group 5 games, was savaged by disgruntled supporters afterwards and his reign ended the following month. However, the venue for that fateful encounter 17 years ago had been changed from the Sherriff Stadium in Tiraspol to the Republican Stadium in Chisinau for security reasons just weeks before.
Tiraspol is the capital of the breakaway enclave of Transnistria on the Ukrainian border and mounting tensions in the region – separatists had closed down
several Moldovan language schools – at the time prompted the football authorities to switch the fixture to Chisinau.
The dilapidated Republican Stadium, which had been built 52 years earlier and was bulldozed to the ground three years later, did not meet strict UEFA and FIFA regulations on hygiene or the state of the pitch, but the match was allowed to go ahead regardless.
The visitors struggled to string two passes together on the bumpy playing surface and, despite striker Steven Thompson equalising shortly after Sergiu Dadu had opened the scoring in the first-half, were held to a humiliating draw at the end of the 90 minutes.
There is, though, no chance of Andy Robertson and his team mates coming unstuck because of underfoot conditions in the Zimbru Stadium on Friday evening according to former Dundee and Celtic midfielder Wieghorst.
Denmark took on Moldova at the modern arena in the capital last month and romped, thanks to goals from Andreas Skov Olsen, Simon Kjaer, Christian Norgaard and Joakim Maehle in the opening 45 minutes, to an emphatic 4-0 victory to move to within three points of qualification for the World Cup finals next year.
That was nothing out of the ordinary for the Red and Whites; the Euro 2020 semifinalists have won all eight of their Group F games to date, scoring 27 goals without reply in the process. However, their assistant manager admitted the quality of the playing surface suited their style of play and he expressed confidence it will enable Scotland to attack, score goals and get the triumph they need to finish runners-up and progress to the second round.
“It is a very good pitch,” he said. “We were a bit surprised by that when we went there to be honest. It is a great playing surface and I think that will help Scotland in this match. I am pretty sure they are going to have to take the game to Moldova, pass the ball about and try to create chances. The pitch will help them do that.”
Denmark have squared up to Moldova twice and Scotland once during their remarkable campaign and Wieghorst, who won 30 caps for his homeland and played for them at the France ’98 finals, believes the latter will win the encounter if their players handle the enormity of the occasion and keep their cool.
“Scotland will know they have to be disciplined and keep their concentration,” he said. “If they do that, I think they will win. You cannot expect to go away anywhere in Europe, even against the lesser nations, and win if you are not at your best. If you don’t play to your best you will face problems.
“But if they stay focused, stay concentrated, I think Scotland will get the result they need. I know Steve Clarke will have the team well prepared for the task and will make sure they are not psyched about the match.”
The 50-year-old still speaks English with a distinct Scottish twang and he confessed he would love to see the country where he plied his trade for 10 years in the 1990s and 2000s join Denmark at Qatar 2022 next November.
“It has been good to see Scotland do so well,” he said as he helped his national team to prepare for a meaningless match against the Faroes in Copenhagen tomorrow evening. “I personally would like to see Scotland qualify now that we have qualified.”
Denmark and Scotland will play their final Group F fixture in Glasgow on Monday – and Morten Wieghorst is optimistic it will be an encounter between the first and second-placed sides in the section.